New poll: Obama is up, Congress way down

President Obama has more than double the approval ratings of Democratic congressional leaders, and triple the positives of the Republican Party, according to a new National Research 2000 poll.

The poll was taken during a week when Obama made his most important appointment to date, the nomination of U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It found 67 percent of Americans with a favorable opinion of Obama with just 29 percent in the unfavorable category, a figure that has remained largely unchanged for weeks.

By contrast, approval ratings for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stand at just 30 percent. Pelosi gets a negative rating from 58 percent of those surveyed, Reid has negatives of 53 percent.

A rising tide lifts all boats, and positive opinions of Obama have sharply lifted Congress’ usually rock-bottom ratings.

In recent weeks, however, Pelosi’s positives have fallen probably due to a what-did-she-know, when-did-she-know-it controversy over CIA briefings she received as House Minority Leader during the Bush administration.

Overall, Congressional Democrats are viewed positively by 39 percent of those surveyed, with Dems getting a 53 percent negative rating.

The down tick in Democrats’ ratings offers no comfort to congressional Republicans.

According to Research 2000, just 12 percent have a positive view of the GOP in Congress, while 72 percent voice negative views. House Minority Leader John Boehner has an approval rating of just 15 percent.

The Democratic Party is seen positively by 49 percent, and negatively by 43 percent, in Research 2000 findings. The Republicans remain in the tank, with a 21-71 positive-to-negative figure.

Research 2000 is an independent national pollster – with a good track record from 2008 – that has been retained by the liberal dailykos.com Web site to track Obama and Congress.

Its latest survey was taken May 25-28 and has a margin of error of plus/minus 2 percent.